1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ballast distributing system for utilization with hopper bottom bulk material transporting railway car, and more particularly, to a ballast distributing system including a plow capable of vertical adjustment to ride along the top of the rail to sweep ballast from the rail surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ballast distributing machines have been in use for some years for distributing ballast evenly along a railroad roadbed. The method has been accomplished by the utilization of a plow attached to one end of a railroad vehicle which is capable of spreading the ballast laterally across the roadbed while the associated vehicle is travelling along the track. The ballast is transported and distributed from a railroad car designed specifically for such operations. A separate railroad vehicle is typically used to level the ballast, with the spreading system formed by a railroad tie fixed to the front of the vehicle.
A ballast regulator comprising a ballast plow arrangement mounted on a machine frame between two undercarriages supporting respective ends of the machine frame for mobility on a railroad track is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,160. The plow arrangement disclosed therein comprises a vertically adjustable center plow with plowshares pivotal for adjustment about a vertical axis to enable the ballast to be redistributed in any desired manner over the entire width of the ballast bed in a single pass of the machine. Laterally and vertically adjustable shoulder plowshares are associated with the center plow at each side of the machine frame for suitably shaping the ballast shoulders.
A ballast storage silo is arranged on the machine frame between the rear undercarriage and the center plow, the silo having hydraulically operable ballast discharge opening means at an underside thereof so that ballast stored in the silo may be discharged onto the ballast bed in any track section which has too little ballast. While such a ballast plow enables the amount of ballast along the track to be equalized, the small storage capacity of the silo leads to relatively short track sections having either too little or too much ballast after a certain number of such track sections have been plowed.